


Getting the Gold

by frankiesin



Series: Olympics AU [1]
Category: Bandom, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: 2012 Summer Olympics, Alternate Universe - Olympics, Fluff, Getting Together, Lindsey Destroys the Miscommunication Though So It's Okay, M/M, Miscommunication, Mutual Pining, gymnastics coach Mikey, swim coach Pete
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9335039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankiesin/pseuds/frankiesin
Summary: It's Mikey's first time as an Olympic coach, and he's navigating the new role pretty well until he meets the men's swim coach. Pete's gorgeous, funny, and entertaining as hell, but Mikey's pretty sure he's already got a boyfriend.Also featuring Mikey and Lindsey being Super Bros, and way too many baby athletes in need of supervision.(Written for Petekey Secret Santa 2016)





	

**Author's Note:**

> This goes in the A Guide on How Not to Come Out... universe, but you really don't need to read the other fic to understand this one. It's literally just the Pete/Mikey prequel and backstory. 
> 
> Written for @xmaswayy in the petekey secret santa.

It was the summer of 2012, and Mikey’s first Olympics as a coach instead of a participant. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about the whole thing, but he’d had no choice but to retire after he tore his ACL two summers prior. He still had to wear a brace, which was embarrassing considering he also had four gold medals hanging from his dresser back in Jersey. He’d been something great, back before he fucked up his knee. 

 

“Stop moping, it makes you look bad,” Lindsey said, leaning against the wall beside him. She was the head coach for the girls, and Mikey was her assistant. Mikey was pretty sure he’d only gotten the job because he was Gee’s younger brother. Lindsey and Gee had been married for a while, and Gee knew how to play their cards right. 

 

“I could be out there,” Mikey said. 

 

“So could I,” Lindsey said. “But the thing is, the judges only get harsher the older you are. And we’ve got a good team of girls this year.”

 

“I know,” Mikey sighed. “I’m just not used to having to watch. I want to be out there, doing all of those--”

 

“Lynn! Straighten your legs!” Lindsey yelled at one of the girls, who immediately fixed her posture on the beams and continued on her routine. Lindsey turned back to Mikey. “Sorry, continue.”

 

“I’d rather be getting yelled at than doing the yelling, essentially,” Mikey said, and reached up to his face to adjust his glasses, even though he knew there was nothing there. He’d finally gotten around to getting Lasik, even though he really didn’t need it now that he wasn’t competing. “We get breaks from yelling at them, right? I don’t want them to hate me.”

 

“They don’t hate you,” Lindsey said, and grinned. “They fear you.”

 

“You’re something else,” Mikey rolled his eyes. 

 

“You’re just now figuring that out?” Lindsey said. Mikey shook his head. He was used to Lindsey. He loved her antics, as much as he could love the antics of his sister-in-law. She was right, too, because she was usually right about these things, and Mikey needed to stop being so depressing. These girls needed him. This was the Olympic games. This wasn’t some competition, this was the competition. The one that mattered. 

 

Mikey straightened up. “I’m going to go check in on Ashley, see how her routine’s going and if she figured out how to land that one jump or if we’ll have to scratch it.”

 

“Alright,” Lindsey said, patting him on the shoulder. “Just don’t forget, the opening ceremony starts at six, and then we’re getting dinner with the swim team and track team afterwards.”

 

“Don’t let anyone eat too much pasta,” Mikey said, saluting as he headed over to the floor where Ashley was going over her routine. He crouched beside the floor, watching her movements and judging her silently. She did a full twist and landed shakily, and Mikey winced. He called out, “watch that landing, you don’t want to twist anything!” and she nodded, before backing into the corner nearest Mikey and starting the next part of her routine. 

 

Mikey worked with Ashley and Hayley for most of the practice, making sure to check the time so that the two girls had enough time to get cleaned off and get ready for the opening ceremony. Mikey and Lindsey followed their girls off of the practice mats and back to the rooms. Mikey and Lindsey were in the room across the hall from the four girls. Lindsey dropped back onto her bed, splaying her limbs out and losing any sense of adulthood she’d had before. “I hate jet-lag. Have I ever mentioned that to you?”

 

“At least six times since we landed yesterday,” Mikey said. “Gee says hi, by the way, and that they’re going to be watching for us at mom and dad’s with the baby.”

 

“And they couldn’t just text me that?” Lindsey said, turning onto her side. Mikey shrugged. “They know you turn your phone off during practice and I don’t.”

 

“Well, I don’t need my phone since you’ve got every update I could ever care about,” Lindsey said. She wasn’t wrong. Mikey liked to keep up with what was going on, and kept his phone near him at all times. 

 

Soon enough, it was time to head down for the opening ceremony. The gymnastics teams--boys and girls--huddled together as Lindsey and the head coach for the boys’ team directed everyone. Mikey just did what he could to keep anyone from wandering off to go see what the other countries were doing for their entrances. It was interesting, sure, and Mikey could remember his first games where he was sixteen, wide-eyed, and terrified because everything seemed so much more majestic than him. 

 

Then he’d gone on and won a gold medal in his first event and everything else seemed possible. Mikey wasn’t jaded, yet, but he wasn’t awestruck by things anymore. He kind of missed that. 

 

“Hey, you’re the new gymnastics coach, right?” Someone said, followed by a hand on Mikey’s shoulder. He turned around to see a shorter man with black hair and golden eyes staring up at him. Mikey nodded. The guy broke into a grin. “Sweet. Do me a favour, and if you see a scrawny kid with swoopy hair try and get in with any of your girls, throw him back at me. His name’s Ryan, and he keeps sneaking off.”

 

“Is he one of your…” Mikey trailed off because he couldn’t tell who this guy was. He felt like he was supposed to know. 

 

“He’s my backstroker, yeah,” the guy said, nodding. He stuck his hand out for Mikey to shake, suddenly. “I’m Pete Wentz, by the way. I’m one of the swim coaches. I don’t think we’ve ever met but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you before.”

 

“Mikey Way,” Mikey said, shaking Pete’s hand. “And I used to be a gymnast. I was here last year. Or, four years ago. In the last games.”

 

“Sweet!” Pete grinned. “You’re gonna be at the dinner, right? I’m bringing a bunch of friends, we’ll be at the loud table if you want to join us.”

 

Before Mikey could agree to eat with Pete (or decline the offer, which might have been the better option), Pete ran off into the mob of athletes, probably in search of one of his swimmers. Mikey kept an eye out for the Ryan kid, but never saw him. Mikey wondered why Pete had asked Mikey specifically to look out for Ryan, whoever he was, but he figured he could ask Pete later, at dinner. 

 

The opening ceremony was amazing, as always, and the girls were all smiles and excitement as they paraded through, with Lindsey and Mikey flanking them on either side. All of them were new to the Olympics except for Hayley, who had been sixteen four years ago and had known Mikey as an athlete. They couldn’t take each other seriously, which was fine, because Hayley took Lindsey very seriously and Mikey had the four other girls to worry about. 

 

At the end of the ceremony, Hayley found Mikey first, and linked her arm with his, dragging him off to where the other teams were gathering to head off to grab dinner. She grinned up at him. “So how was that for a ceremony, huh?”

 

“I’ve seen better,” Mikey said. “I think Beijing was my favourite, but the queen was pretty cool.”

 

“You’re never impressed,” Hayley rolled her eyes. 

 

“No, I am, I just have to act like I’m not because Lindsey’ll never let it go if I look too awestruck,” Mikey countered. He glanced over his shoulder, but Lindsey was off talking to someone else in a coaching jacket. Mikey turned back around. “So, I got invited to hang out with Pete Wentz and the swim team. You want to come along and save me if they turn out to be too weird?”

 

“Sure,” Hayley said. The two of them found Pete Wentz, who was surrounded by four guys who looked over excited. They were all probably new to the Olympics.

 

Mikey walked up to Pete, with Hayley a step behind him. “Are these yours?”

 

“Yep, they’re all first timers,” Pete said. The boys were all looking at Mikey with wide, interested eyes. They knew who he used to be. They probably also recognised Hayley, because of her eccentric hair and small stature. Pete (who was the shortest of the swim team crowd) reached up and ruffled the hair of one of the guys. “And this fucker keeps trying to sneak off to get himself a girlfriend from your team.”

 

“Coach,” the guy said, ducking away from Pete. One of the other guys laughed, and the first one--Ryan, if Mikey remembered his and Pete’s first conversation correctly--flicked his teammate in the nose. “Shut up, Spence. At least I can actually talk to girls.”

 

“Stop fighting, you two,” Pete said. Mikey could tell that the two of them weren’t fighting, or anywhere close to it. Their actions and body language were similar to how Mikey and Gee got when they were teasing each other. Ryan and Spence didn’t look like they were brothers, though, so maybe they were just really close friends. Or dating, but Mikey tried not to assume people’s sexuality, especially in situations like this, where being openly queer could get someone kicked off of their team. 

 

Pete made a  _ what can you do _ face at Mikey. “You two want to get some food? It’ll probably all be shit, since this is England, but maybe we can find something worthwhile for everyone.”

 

“Sure,” Mikey said, glancing back at Hayley, who shrugged. At least they were both uncertain about hanging with the swim team. Mikey had never been traditionally athletic growing up, and he’d had to deal with a lot of bullies because of his chosen sport. That was before he realised he was gay. He kept his sexuality a secret for most of high school, and even more so once he started competing nationally and in the Olympics. He didn’t want to further the stereotype that gymnastics was a girly sport and all the men who did it were gay. 

 

Somewhere, Gee was rolling their eyes and getting ready to launch themselves into a rant about toxic masculinity. They probably didn’t even know why they wanted to rant, they just knew that they had to. 

 

“Oh, hey, that looks interesting,” Pete said, pointing at a sign for a Japanese restaurant. He elbowed Mikey, gently. “What’s your opinion on sushi?”

 

“I’m a fan,” Mikey said. 

 

“Mikey Way can eat his entire weight in sushi,” Hayley leaned around him to say. Pete’s eyes widened, and he looked up at Mikey, waiting for some kind of confirmation. Mikey waved his hand in a way that neither confirmed nor denied the claim. Pete still looked impressed as he held the door open for Mikey, Hayley, and the four other swim team boys. Mikey still hadn’t gotten names for them. He felt like an ass, but he was really bad at asking for names. Sometimes he just forgot to do so and never learned anyone’s name. 

 

“Table for seven?” Mikey asked the girl behind the front desk. She nodded and collected a bunch of menus, and led them to a table in the back of the restaurant where they were hidden away from most of the other customers. So she realised that they were athletes, and just wasn’t making a big deal about it. Mikey appreciated that. Some people would use anything as an excuse to get a brush with fame. Mikey didn’t even consider himself a famous person. He tried not to act like he was. He didn’t want it getting to his head. 

 

Pete scooted around so that he was next to Mikey, and Hayley raised an eyebrow at him. “Dude, have you ever heard of subtlety?” 

 

“What?” Pete asked. 

 

“If you wanted to hang out with just me, all you had to do was ask,” Mikey said, because he wasn't blind either and he could tell when someone was using their friends (or swimmers, in this case) as an excuse to get to know one specific person in a group. Mikey and Hayley had done this before. They knew what was going on. Mikey turned his body slightly so that he was tilted towards Pete without blocking Hayley from the conversation, because he didn't want to exclude her. “I promise I'm not as reclusive as everyone tries to make me out to be. I'm just bad at talking to the press.”

 

“Who isn't?” Pete said, and laughed awkwardly. Mikey was starting to like the guy, even though he seemed pretty intense for a swim coach. 

 

“Hayley's pretty good at it,” Mikey said, pointing over his shoulder at her even though he was pretty sure that Pete knew who she was. Hayley threw up a peace sign. She never got nervous around anyone, and Mikey was a little jealous. Of course, Hayley had been brought up in an environment where she’d  _ always _ been in the public eye, because both of her parents were well known athletes and they’d never kept their daughter hidden. 

 

Hayley shrugged. “It’s not that big of a deal. You just have to stop worrying about what people think of you. You’re going to get misquoted anyway, might as well say something interesting.”

 

“And that hasn’t gotten you in trouble?” Pete asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced over at Mikey, who shook his head. Pete nodded and gave Hayley a thumbs up. “Nice.”

 

At that moment, the waitress came by and took everyone’s orders. The group settled into easy conversation, and Mikey managed to pick up the names of Pete’s swimmers. Apparently, they were all on a relay together, and then swimming a few events of their own, and they were all pretty young. The oldest, a guy named Jon who was from the same city as Pete, was only nineteen. The butterflier, Spencer, was seventeen going on eighteen, and the other two guys were both eighteen. 

 

“Wow, you guys are all babies,” Hayley said.

 

“I’m like, a year younger than you,” Jon countered. “Those fuckers,” he pointed at the other three, and one of them--Brendon--stuck his tongue out at Jon, “can be considered babies, but I’m a full grown adult.”

 

“Sure, Jon,” Pete said, and then winked at Mikey for some reason. Mikey smiled back, finding Pete’s antics cute even though he didn’t particularly understand them. Pete was weirdly endearing. 

 

At the end of the meal, Pete sent his swimmers off to go get some rest, because apparently they all had an event the next day. He, Mikey, and Hayley were the only ones left at the table, and because they’d all been to the games before, they ended up trading stories back and forth. Mikey learned that Pete was friends with a coach from Uruguay, and that as a joke, he’d made a bet with the coach as to whose team could do better. 

 

“And it’s not like I thought I would lose, right? I mean, not to toot our own horns, but team USA is probably the best team,” Pete said. He pulled his legs up onto the booth seat, so that his foot was in Mikey’s lap. “Unfortunately, I underestimated Gabe’s ability to get shit done, and he beat my guys by one medal, so I ended up with his face on my leg.”

 

“Seriously?” Hayley raised her eyebrows. 

 

Pete nodded and pointed to the leg that was in Mikey’s lap. “Pull my pants up and see for yourself.”

 

“Pete, we’re in a restaurant, I’m not really su--” Mikey stopped as Hayley reached across his lap and yanked Pete’s pant leg up to reveal a tattoo of an average looking eight year old with the caption  _ Gabey Baby Made Me Go Bad _ underneath. Mikey buried his hands in his face. “Never mind.”

 

Pete laughed. 

 

Eventually, the three of them cleared out of the restaurant because it was getting near closing time and they didn’t want to be known as those rude people who stayed past closing just to sit around a table and talk. They took a bus back to the rooms where all the athletes and their coaches were staying. As Mikey got off the bus and started towards the elevator up to his and Hayley’s rooms, Pete grabbed him by the elbow an pulled him aside. 

 

Hayley glanced over her shoulder, giving Mikey a questioning look. Mikey waved her off. He’d be up in a minute. He turned around and faced Pete. “What's up?”

 

“This might sound weird, but do you want to hang out with me tomorrow during some of the swimming?” Pete said. “If you've got other stuff to do, like, coaching or whatever, that's fine, I understand.”

 

“I can't stay for all of it,” Mikey said, and Pete’s expression brightened immediately. “But I'll be there for what I can. I've never watched swimming before.”

 

“I yell a lot, just warning you.”

 

Mikey shrugged. “That's cool. See you tomorrow?”

 

“Yep!” Pete said, and offered Mikey a fist bump. Mikey took it, because it was kind of cute and not usually how people said goodbye to each other. Mikey was quickly realising that Pete didn't  _ do _ what was usual. He was his own guy. Mikey liked him. 

 

* * *

 

“Okay, no offense, but that sounds like a fucking date,” Lindsey said that night while she and Mikey were drinking Gatorade and going over the schedules for the next few weeks. Mikey had been telling her about dinner, since he'd abandoned her and most of the gymnastics team, and felt bad for it. 

 

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Linds, he had like four guys with him, and I had Hayley. That's not a date.”

 

“People with children go on dates all the time,” Lindsey countered. Mikey knew that, technically speaking, she was right, but Mikey and Pete didn't have children. They had young athletes they were looking over. Just because some of Pete's swimmers were minors didn't mean they were his actual children. Pete didn't look that old. 

 

“Also, who's to say he's even into men?” Mikey said. 

 

“You and I are not the only queer people here, you know,” Lindsey said. “You need to stop assuming everyone is straight. You're going to end up looking like an idiot one day if you keep that up.”

 

“Says the married woman,” Mikey replied. Lindsey just wiggled her left hand, the gold band sparkling in the artificial light of the bedroom. Mikey shook his head. “I’m not going after Pete, Lindsey. I’ve got other things to do.”

 

“I can take over coaching,” she offered.

 

“No.”

 

“At least see if he’s into guys,” Lindsey said. When Mikey looked at her with a disbelieving look on his face, she elaborated, “because it would be nice to find more queer athletes. To hang out with, and shit. You don’t have to try and date him if you don’t want to.”

 

* * *

 

Pool decks, Mikey quickly learned, were very loud and smelled funny. It was probably from all the chlorine being pumped into the water, and then sweated off of the swimmers whenever they weren’t in the pool. He couldn’t find Pete, either, which wasn’t good. Mikey had only shown up to meet up with Pete, and if Pete wasn’t there… what was the point?

 

Mikey sighed and continued his path around the pool deck. He figured that if he found the American swimmers, he would probably be able to find Pete as well. The people on the sidelines were all clustered based on the colours of their jackets, but of course, the American jackets were white, as were a lot of other jackets. Mikey rolled his eyes. Naturally. 

 

Someone tugged on his arm, and Mikey turned around to see the Ryan kid from the night before. Ryan looked annoyed that Mikey was even there, but maybe that was his resting expression. It wasn’t like Mikey’s was any more appealing. Mikey attempted a smile anyway. “Hey, what’s up?”

 

“Pete kept yelling at you from across the deck,” Ryan said, and pointed with his thumb to the other side of the pool where, sure enough, Pete was standing and waving and generally drawing too much attention to himself. Mikey had no idea how he hadn’t seen him before then, but it was probably because Pete was just short and Mikey had forgotten. Pete didn’t act very short. 

 

Mikey waved back at Pete, and Pete beamed. Mikey turned to Ryan again. “Sorry about that. I’m not used to pools. Like, at all.”

 

“I could tell,” Ryan said, looking pointedly at Mikey’s sneaker-clad feet. Ryan wasn’t wearing shoes, but he also wasn’t wearing pants, just his swim suit and the team jacket, with his swim cap and goggles peeking out of the pocket of his jacket. Mikey ignored Ryan’s comment and followed him around the pool, which had about ten lanes and smelled more like chlorine the longer Mikey was around it. 

 

Pete pulled Mikey down for a hug as soon as he was close enough to reach, and Mikey hugged back, even though they’d only known each other for a day and had only been apart for a few hours. Pete was just an affectionate guy, apparently. He let go of Mikey and grinned up at him. “You’re just in time. The guys are about to go get in line for their relay, and then we can go yell at them from the far end of the pool.”

 

Ryan looked down at Pete. “Wait, can non-coaches be at that end of the pool?”

 

“Mikey’s a coach, just not for swim team,” Pete said, reaching up and ruffling Ryan’s hair until Ryan ducked away from his coach’s hand. Pete grinned, but didn’t move away from his spot beside Mikey. “He counts.”

 

“Whatever you say, dude,” Ryan said, looking Mikey up and down. Mikey wondered if he’d done something that made Ryan not like him, because Ryan was acting strangely cold towards someone he didn’t know well. Maybe Ryan was just awkward, or maybe he had the same kind of anxiety that made most people think Mikey was reserved and mysterious. Or, maybe Ryan was just being cautious and Mikey was over-reacting. There was no way for Mikey to know for sure, unless he actually asked Ryan, and that wasn’t going to happen. 

 

“Speaking of relays,” Pete said, like he’d just become aware of the awkwardness between Mikey and Ryan, “we should go find your friends so you fucks don’t miss your event. I know that you’re all adults and Spencer’s almost there, but none of you can get anywhere on time. So, come on,” Pete reached out and linked his arm with Ryan’s, and Ryan looked down at Pete’s tattooed arm like it was a fantasy creature for a moment before just going with it, “let’s go find the other three and get you kids settled.”

 

Pete looked over his shoulder and winked at Mikey. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere, kay?”

 

“Didn’t plan on it,” Mikey said, and watched Pete drag Ryan off across the pool deck, over to where a bunch of swimmers were congregating, probably to get ready for their relays. Literally moments later, a skinny guy with floppy black-brown hair and pouty lips came up to Mikey, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him. 

 

Mikey turned away from where Pete had disappeared into the crowd. “What?”

 

“Have you seen Pete? And Ryan and Spencer and--”

 

“Pete and Ryan just went over there,” Mikey pointed towards the diving boards, “and I have no idea where Spencer or anyone else is, sorry.”

 

“Okay, thanks,” the guy said. Mikey had no idea what his name was. He had a feeling that if Spencer came by, he wouldn’t be able to recognise Spencer either. Mikey really needed to learn these people’s names if he was going to be hanging around their coach a lot this summer. Pete was growing on Mikey, and Mikey enjoyed his presence, even though it was fleeting. He didn't want to embarrass himself--or Pete--because he messed up the names of some of Pete’s favourite swimmers. 

 

The guy was still standing there, watching Mikey. Mikey raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready to swim.”

 

“You have really pretty eyes,” he blurted out. His eyes widened comically, and he stepped back from Mikey. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have--”

 

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Mikey said. “But seriously, if you’re about to swim, you should probably head over. If I see anyone from your relay, I’ll send them over too, don’t worry.”

 

“Okay, thanks, sorry,” he said, bouncing on his feet before he finally burst away from Mikey and down the side of the pool. Mikey shook his head. Athletes were weird before they had to perform, regardless of what sport they were in. At least that was one universal truth that Mikey could rely on. 

 

Pete finally reappeared, only to drag Mikey down to the other end of the pool and situate the both of them behind lane six. Pete stopped behind a different pair of coaches, and Mikey felt like he stood out because he wasn’t wearing any team jacket. He was just in a band t-shirt and jeans, and apparently overdressed because pretty much everyone else was in track pants and either no shoes or flip flops. 

 

Pete grinned and leaned into Mikey while they waited for the American team’s relay to come up. “Dude, you’re going to get soaked.”

 

“Yeah, I have a feeling I’m going to have to change pants,” Mikey said. 

 

“You could just take them off,” Pete suggested. “I really don’t think anyone would notice. Or care. It’s not the weirdest thing I’ve seen at a swim meet, and I used to coach summer league in Chicago. There were some weird kids at that pool.”

 

“What’d they do?”

 

“Well, one of them tried to shave my head,” Pete said. “Of course, she was thirteen and had just discovered the whole bad boy trope, and naturally I, covered in tattoos and rocking some emo side bangs, was exactly what she thought was cool. It was kind of weird, but I managed to keep my hair.”

 

Mikey nodded. He didn’t have any weird gymnastics stories, because growing up, he’d been too busy trying to be the best gymnast ever that he hadn’t really paid attention to other people. Mikey didn’t think that Pete would be interested in hearing about Mikey’s inferiority complex and also how he literally only had two friends other than Gee in high school. It would probably ruin whatever image Pete had of Mikey. Pete probably thought that Mikey was at least a little cool. 

 

Mikey was not cool. Mikey had started a DND campaign in the girls gymnastics team. Lindsey was also involved, and she was a rogue and her character was the reason that chaotic neutral had been invented. 

 

“So, you do anything interesting before you became a gymnastic superstar?” Pete asked, elbowing Mikey gently. 

 

Mikey shrugged. “Not really. My childhood was kind of boring. I was one of those over-achiever kids who like, didn’t do anything except school and gymnastics. I didn’t do much else.”

 

“I don’t believe you,” Pete said. He pulled Mikey up to the edge of the pool. On the other end, Mikey could see Ryan and three other guys standing up behind the starting blocks. They were all almost unrecognisable now that they had their caps and goggles on, but Mikey was pretty good at remembering people’s body types. Maybe it was an athlete thing. He was used to looking at forms instead of faces, or something like that. 

 

Pete gave his four swimmers a thumbs up, but none of them responded. Pete shrugged. “They’re ready to go, I just do that because of superstitions and shit.”

 

“I’ve got a few of those,” Mikey said, thinking about the routine he used to go through whenever he chalked up his hands. Gee had pointed it out to him, once, and said it was weird, but it comforted Mikey. He was pretty sure if he ever did it wrong, he’d fuck up his routine. He’d probably been wrong, since he tore his ACL even after doing the chalking right, but up until then it had worked. 

 

The announcer’s voice echoed through the pool area, and Mikey wondered how any of the swimmers knew what to do and when to do it. He watched as one of them hopped into the water and held himself up by the bar under the diving block. The announcer’s voice echoed out again, and like all ten men were connected to the same string, they tightened up, curling towards the wall. There was a flash of light and a beep, and they surged forward, like a released spring. 

 

It was pretty fucking majestic, to see that all at once. Mikey's eyes widened. 

 

“I know, right?” Pete grinned. “Ryan's got one hell of an arch when he starts.”

 

Then, to Ryan, who was obviously the one in the water and swimming on his back towards them, “come on, Ry! Kick! Fucker, kick!”

 

Mikey laughed. Of course Pete was the kind of coach who insulted his athletes to motivate them. Mikey had no idea how to cheer someone on while they swam, and also, most of the other coaches were a lot quieter in their support. Mikey wasn't feeling any secondhand embarrassment from Pete being enthusiastic, though. He was actually enjoying himself. 

 

Pete didn't stop yelling angry encouragements when Ryan finished his section of the relay and the next guy--Jon, according to what Pete was screaming--dived in over him. Pete didn't stop yelling for the whole relay, and got even louder and more desperate sounding as the last guy--Brendon, freestyle--sped back towards the diving boards. When he hit the wall, Pete jumped in the air and let out a “WHOO!!” before pulling Mikey in for a side hug and shaking him. 

 

Mikey hugged back, excited but a little confused, looking around for something that would tell him how the team did. “Did we win? How the hell do you know?”

 

“Board’s over there, dude,” Pete said, pointing across the entire pool area with his arm. “And not only did we get the fucking gold--probably, the system might have glitches and that's why we have back up times--but we beat the world record! I fucking love those boys, they're impressive!”

 

“Yeah, no shit,” Mikey said, a little breathlessly. A world record. That was… holy shit. Mikey was proud of those four guys and he was still messing up their names. 

 

* * *

 

Mikey tried to find Pete later that day, because he’d decided that he really did like the guy. He’d told Lindsey the night before that he wasn’t interested in Pete in a dating way, but at some point he’d changed his mind. Pete was attractive. Pete was fun to be around, and--even though it made him sound like he was back in high school--he couldn’t stop thinking about the guy and his smile. 

 

Unfortunately, Pete was a hard guy to find. It didn’t help that Mikey couldn’t remember his last name, even though he knew Pete had mentioned it before. Mikey was shit when it came to names. He was good at pretending he knew who people were, though, so he rarely got called out on it. 

 

He decided to branch out away from the stadium where most of the events were being held. Pete probably liked getting away from everything. Mikey wasn’t sure where to look first, so he just headed back to where they’d eaten out the other night and started there. 

 

He found Pete, but Pete wasn’t alone. He was with Ryan, and it was just the two of them, and they were hanging out alone at a pub. At first, Mikey thought it was just a coach and his athlete bonding, because Mikey and Lindsey would occasionally hang out with their girls one-on-one. The longer Mikey waited for an opening, though, the more he felt like he was watching in on something more than just two friends hanging out. They were leaning into each other’s space. Ryan was looking at Pete in a way that didn’t seem at all friendly, and Pete was giving Ryan a warm smile and putting his hand over Ryan, saying something that Mikey couldn’t hear over the noise of the pub. 

 

Mikey slowly and quietly retreated. It was probably for the best that he had seen that, before he could go and embarrass himself in front of Pete. At least now he knew that, in some alternate universe where Pete wasn’t involved with one of his athletes, he could have had a chance. That was nice to know. 

 

* * *

 

“Would you ever date one of your athletes?” Mikey asked Lindsey while the two of them were watching Ashley warm up for her bar routine. She was going to be on in ten minutes. Mikey was starting to get nervous, and when he got nervous, he lost his filter and started saying shit he didn’t need to share. 

 

Lindsey stared at him. “Dude, I’m married. To your sibling.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Mikey said. He was already in this, and he kind of wanted the answer anyway. “But, suppose you weren’t married to Gee. Would you?”

 

“Considering most of these girls are underage, no,” Lindsey said. “I could be some of their mothers, if I’d started popping out babies early enough. I couldn’t date them, Mikes, that’s gross. And weird, and probably breaking at least two laws about athlete-coach relationships.”

 

“So, it’d be frowned upon?” Mikey asked. He needed to stop asking questions. Lindsey was watching him more than Ashley, and Mikey wasn’t the one who was about to go out there and perform. He was just there to make sure the girls didn’t fuck up horribly. 

 

“Whatever you’re thinking about, I don’t like it,” Lindsey said, slowly. She was still watching Mikey, even though she’d rotated her head so that it was facing towards Ashley. “Don’t fuck the athletes, Mikey. I’ll tell Gee and then they’ll have to fly out here and do the whole disappointed older sibling thing and we’ll all be embarrassed.”

 

“I’m not trying to date any athletes.”

 

“Then who is?” She asked, and her eyes flicked over to Ashley. Lindsey could just sense when the girls were slacking. “Ash! Tighten your core or you’ll get points docked! The landing was good, you just look like overcooked spaghetti!”

 

She watched Ashley do that section of her routine again, and gave her a thumbs up before turning her attention back to Mikey again. “Who’s dating athletes?”

 

“I think Pete’s got a thing with one of his swimmers,” Mikey said. Lindsey raised an eyebrow. Mikey shifted his weight off of his bad knee because it was starting to feel sore and he hated being reminded that it was essentially useless. “They’re always around each other, and they’re weirdly affectionate, and I saw them at a pub the other night and they were really… close. I don’t know, I’m probably being paranoid or something.”

 

“You could always just ask,” Lindsey offered. 

 

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Wow, it’s not like I haven’t thought about that before. I just don’t know how to ask him without it sounding weird or suspicious or anything.”

 

“How about,  _ hey, Pete, are you fucking one of your swimmers? _ ” Lindsey said. She shrugged. “That’s how I’d do it.”

 

“I have anxiety,” Mikey reminded her, because he was pretty sure that she forgot about that sometimes. Mikey had known Lindsey--through Gee and through gymnastics--for years, and she was used to seeing him in areas where he was comfortable being himself and not feeling like he had to impress everyone in the room. 

 

“I can ask?” 

 

“Absolutely not,” Mikey said. “I don’t trust you not to do something to him if he turns out to be a dick.”

 

“Listen, Mikey, if Pete Wentz turns out to be a dick, I’m gonna do something to him whether you ask me to or not,” she said, clapping enthusiastically as Ashley finished her routine. Her demeanour did not match her words at all. “I’m your sister-in-law, and since Gee’s in a different country, I’m standing in for them when it comes to older sibling duties. That includes beating up the jerk who breaks your heart.”

 

Mikey rolled his eyes. Again. Probably. He felt like he was constantly rolling his eyes at this point. “Pete’s not going to break my heart, oh my God. I just don’t want to be interested in him only to find out he’s already dating an eighteen year old.”

 

“Well, at least the kid’s legal.”

 

“ _ Lindsey _ .”

 

“What?” she exclaimed, making a face. Mikey knew it was directed towards him, but she was still tilted towards Ashley, and so Ashley frowned for a moment before Mikey shook his head and pointed at himself so that the girl knew that Lindsey’s expression wasn’t directed at her. Lindsey jutted her hip out. “It’d be a lot worse if he was dating a kid, you know. I’d have to punch him in the face on principal, and even though we’re  _ from _ the same country, I think it would count as an international incident. Which would be bad.”

 

“Yeah, no shit,” Mikey said. He sighed. “We can talk about this later. I want to watch Ash. I think she’s gonna blow their minds.”

 

“She better,” Lindsey said. “She begged me to let her do this routine, so I hope it pays off. I don’t want her to end up disappointed, you know?”

 

“I feel you,” Mikey said. He and Lindsey backed away from the edge of the floor so that Ashley could start her routine. Some other girl was in the middle of her floor routine, and her music was set at a different rhythm from Ashley’s routine, but that didn’t stop her. Ashley was slowly becoming Mikey’s favourite, not that he’d tell anyone or let it affect his coaching. She’d essentially trained herself, up until she was thirteen, because both of her parents were poor and all she had was a cracked and ruined basketball court and a rusty playground. 

 

Lindsey had taken one look at her audition tapes and driven all the way across New Jersey to accept her onto the team in person. Ashley was, as Gee and Mikey both said when they heard her origin story, pretty fucking badass. 

 

She didn’t let anyone down in her routine. It was a little gritty, and there was a lot of raw emotion in her moves. She was honest, she was open, and she was vulnerable. She wasn’t the traditional, pretty and glittery little gymnast girl that the judges liked, but she’d gotten herself up to such a level that they could no longer ignore her. 

 

Mikey grinned as Ashley got into her routine. Her expression was stone cold, and her moves were perfect. Mikey nudged Lindsey. “Look at her go.”

 

“I know,” Lindsey said. “I’m fucking proud.”

 

“I don’t know shit about gymnastics, but that looks pretty impressive,” Pete said from the other side of Mikey, startling him enough that he actually jumped. Lindsey was startled, too, because she was watching Pete with wide eyes instead of paying attention to Ashley’s routine. Pete was standing right next to Mikey. He had no idea how Pete had gotten down on the floor. Pete waved. “Hey. Thought I’d return the favour and come out and support your people.”

 

“How’d you get down here?” Mikey asked. Lindsey had turned her attention back to Ashley, but he knew she was still listening to his and Pete’s conversation. Mikey couldn’t blame her. Whatever he and Pete were doing with each other was entertaining, even if it was a pain to be in the middle of. 

 

“I asked nicely,” Pete said. “Said there was a particular gymnastics coach I’d been meaning to talk to. Security guards are surprisingly nice if you’re wearing the right jacket.”

 

Mikey shook his head slightly, smiling despite himself. “So, you don’t have anywhere better to be?”

 

“Nope,” Pete said. He leaned against the wall, and a bit into Mikey. Mikey didn’t think about what he’d seen at the pub a few nights back. If Pete and Ryan were a thing, Mikey didn’t have a chance, and he wasn’t going to try anything with Pete only to get shut down. He was here to support his girls while they competed and kicked ass. He wasn’t looking for any kind of romance, and he wasn’t expecting anything. He didn’t need to try for anything with Pete. 

 

“So this is going to come off as really abrupt,” Pete said as Ashley landed her final move and straightened up, staring down the judges. “But do you want to get dinner after this?”

 

“It’s two in the afternoon,” Mikey commented, because he felt like it needed to be said. “And, I’m working right now. And will be, for the next few hours.”

 

“I know, that’s why I asked if you wanted to go after all of these guys went on,” Pete said. He was looking at Mikey with a confused expression on his face, like he didn’t know Mikey was acting avoidant. Mikey didn’t want to have to spell it out for Pete, because that would just be awkward, and also, they were all in public and there was probably at least one camera on them. Ashley was dusting her hands off and walking over, and now was not the time to start drama. 

 

Lindsey handed Ashley her jacket and rubbed her shoulder. “You did fantastic. Go over to the others and I’ll be there in a moment. Your sports dad is being an idiot.”

 

“What’d he do?” Ashley looked at Mikey. Mikey shook his head. Ashley stared him down harder. “You owe me an explanation, later.”

 

“Only if you bring me a medal,” Mikey said. He’d tell her anyway, because it wasn’t like this situation was so ridiculous that Mikey wanted to keep it a secret forever. He just also wanted Ashley to have something to look forward to, because he was certain that she’d be getting a medal, so long as she kept up what she was doing. 

 

“I'm holding you to that,” Ashley said, and walked off to the other girls. They had five minutes before Hayley was on. That was not enough time for Mikey to get his shit together and ask Pete if he was romantically involved with an eighteen year old guy. 

 

Luckily (or not), he had Lindsey by his side. She put her hands on her hips and stared Pete down. “So, are you fucking your athlete?”

 

Pete's eyes widened comically. He obviously was not used to Lindsey Ballato Way. “What?”

 

“Your athlete,” Lindsey repeated. “Are you fucking him or not?”

 

“I'm not--” Pete sputtered out. “I'm not fucking anyone! I was just trying to ask Mikey out on a date, I have no idea what you're talking about.”

 

Lindsey relaxed, and gave Mikey a pointed look. Like  _ he _ was the idiot in this situation. And sure, he probably looked like he was a paranoid idiot, but Lindsey hadn't seen how Pete and Ryan were interacting in the pub the other night. Lindsey didn't have any reason to believe Pete wasn't interested other than Mikey's word, and Mikey's word had just been proved wrong. Speaking of which… Mikey turned to Pete. “You were going to ask me on a date?”

 

“Well, yeah,” he said. “I don't ask just anyone to sneak down on a pool deck and then go out for food later. I thought I was being obvious.”

 

“You probably were, I'm just really bad at picking up hints.”

 

“Oh, good,” Pete grinned. “I was starting to worry that you weren't actually interested and I was making an ass of myself to get your attention for no reason.”

 

* * *

 

Mikey stood in front of the bathroom mirror, doing his hair for the fourth time that evening. Lindsey was watching him from the doorway, and he couldn't tell if she was amused by his anxiety, or just annoyed that he was still freaking out. Mikey put his comb down. “Am I overreacting?”

 

“A little bit,” Lindsey said. “The nervousness is good, though. It means you actually like him and want to make a good impression.”

 

“I've already made an impression on him,” Mikey countered. Lindsey rolled her eyes. Mikey knew that wasn't what she meant, of course, but he couldn't help it. He was freaking out a little. He was about to go on a date, with a cute and funny guy, and he didn't want to fuck up his chances. He took a deep breath and checked the time on his phone. He had a few minutes before he was supposed to meet Pete in the lobby, which was enough time to grab shoes and take the elevator down. 

 

He turned around to face Lindsey and spread his arms out. “I look okay, right? I haven’t done this in a while.”

 

“You look great,” Lindsey said, giving him a thumbs up. “If we weren’t both gay and I wasn’t already married to your sibling, I’d go so far as to call you hot.”

 

She reached out and patted Mikey on the shoulder. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”

 

“Never say that to me ever again and I promise not to tell you how Pete is in bed,” Mikey said. Lindsey laughed, and agreed to his terms. Mikey grabbed his shoes--a pair of converse because he didn’t want to be too overdressed--and headed down to the lobby. Pete was already there, sprawled out across a couch with his legs up above his head. He didn’t notice Mikey arriving, so Mikey walked over and stood over Pete’s head. 

 

Pete looked up and startled a little, his face quickly shifting into a grin. “Hey, Mikeyway! How long have you been here?”

 

“Not very,” Mikey said. He stuck out his hand so that Pete could pull himself up, and then didn’t let go of Pete’s hand. Pete didn’t comment on it, and was actually smiling down at their intertwined hands as he led Mikey outside. They called a taxi, and Pete refused to tell Mikey where exactly they were going, because he wanted it to be a surprise. Mikey let Pete have that, and just held on as they were driven through the London streets.

 

The taxi driver stopped in front of a nice looking place, and Pete paid him before rushing around to the other side of the cab and opening the door for Mikey. Mikey shook his head and got out. “You don’t have to show off for me, you know. I’m already on a date with you.”

 

“I know,” Pete said, taking Mikey’s hand again and leading him inside. “But I want to.”

 

They were taken to a booth in the corner, with candles already lit and two places set. The waitress took their drink orders and handed both men menus, and then left them alone. Mikey wondered how much planning Pete had put into their date, or if he and Mikey were just acting really obvious. Either way, Mikey didn’t mind. He fiddled with the menu for a moment before saying, “I know you’re not supposed to kiss on the first date because of some weird rule that that’s, like, too slutty or something, but I’d be really okay if we ignored that rule. Just so you know.”

 

“Sweet,” Pete said. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since I saw you at the opening ceremony, by the way. You’re really pretty.”

 

“You’re not to ugly yourself.”

 

“Hey,” Pete pouted. “Don’t insult the guy paying for your food. I could poison it or something. I wouldn’t, but I could.”

 

“How, though?” Mikey asked. “You’re not making it. The waitress lady is going to bring our stuff out at the same time, and I mean, I know I can be kind of dense sometimes, but I’m pretty sure I’d notice you slipping something into my food. I’m not that blind.”

 

“Are you sure?” Pete raised an eyebrow. Mikey wondered if it was too early in the evening to kiss him. It probably wasn’t, but Mikey was too nervous to actually go through with his idea. “Because I’ve been hinting that I’m into you for like, the entire time we’ve known each other and you didn’t notice.”

 

Mikey could feel his face going red, and hoped that the mood lighting in the restaurant would cover most of it. “I, uh, I thought you and Ryan were a thing. That’s why Lindsey was asking you if you were fucking any of your athletes.”

 

Pete shook his head, laughing a little. “Dude, Ryan? He’s a great person and all, but he’s like a little brother to me. Also, as far as I know, he’s ridiculously straight and probably going after every girl he sees.”

 

“I know, I just… saw you two out at a pub or whatever and assumed,” Mikey said. He was being honest, and Pete didn’t seem offended that Mikey thought he’d been fucking his barely legal athlete. Mikey moved his hand over Pete’s. “Sorry for being a dick earlier, by the way.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. Ryan’s been going through some shit with his dad, and I was just doing what I could to be supportive that night,” Pete said. He leaned in, and his eyes flicked down to Mikey’s mouth. Mikey might not have had the best experiences with dating, but he’d kissed enough people to know what Pete was going for. Mikey closed the distance, kissing Pete gently, and he could feel Pete smiling against his mouth. It was a pretty great kiss. No one missed or anything. Pete pulled back and held Mikey’s face in his hand for a moment, just looking at him. Mikey let him look. Pete broke out into a grin again. “You’re something else.”

 

“I’m pretty average; you’re the interesting one in this relationship,” Mikey said. 

 

Pete’s eyes widened. “Ooh, a relationship?”

 

“What are you, twelve?” Mikey rolled his eyes. “You’re taking me on a date, we’ve been circling around each other for a while because we’re both idiots, and we just kissed in a nice restaurant. Pretty sure that qualifies as dating.”

 

“Not to be cheesy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He leaned in to kiss Mikey again, but the waitress had appeared, and Mikey was pretty sure that ignoring the waitress to kiss his boyfriend was considered rude, so he turned to smile and thank her for the drink. 

 

She looked between the two of them. “I feel like I’ve interrupted a moment… should I come back and get your dinner orders later?”

 

“I’m ready,” Pete said. He glanced at Mikey. “You?”

 

Mikey hadn’t even looked at the menu. He shrugged. “I’ll take whatever you’re having. You seem like you know what you’re doing in this situation.”

 

Pete grinned, and ordered for them. Mikey handed the menus to the waitress, and then took Pete’s hand once again, kissing him on the cheek. Mikey didn’t plan on letting go, at least not until they went home for the night. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment/kudos if you enjoyed it!!


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